Unforgivable
by neverlandhereicome
Summary: I will never forgive them for hurting you. I will find you and bring you home safely. But first, I will kill everyone who laid a finger on my girl.
1. Where Is My Shrimp?

_Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. The awesome Hiro Mishima does._

 _Thank you guys for over 4,500 views! Thank you so much for reading!_

* * *

He ran as fast as he could to the guild, slammed the door wide open and yelled: "Has anyone seen Levy? Was she here today?"

Natsu and Lucy who were sitting together at one table shook their heads. Juvia stopped bothering Gray and came closer to Gajeel. She asked, worried about the man's desperate face expression: "What happened Gajeel-kun?" The tall man was too distraught to answer and made his way to the exit with the aim to search for the girl he was missing. Natsu and Gray hurried to get in his way. Gray grabbed his shoulder: "Oi, first tell us what's wrong! At least we can try to help you."

"Remember the bastards who picked up a fight with me when Levy and I were on a walk? I guess they're looking for revenge."

"Are you talking about the pathetic new guild? Natsu said angrily, "This would be not our first hassle with them... one of that bastards annoyed Lucy trying to get a chance for a date by following her home... what a creep... I beat the shit out of him." Lucy blushed because of Natsu's scolding. Also it was so obvious that the thought of another guy harassing her made him furious. Still, the memory of the stranger made her shiver.

Gajeel answered: "On our walk Levy and I had a confrontation with some of their guild members, too. She is so small, I have the feeling that those bastards think they can do anything to her... or with her." The man shook his head to escape his own thoughts. "I didn't like their looks back then."

The ice-mage asked with concern: "Why are you so sure that Levy's disappearance has something to do with the new guild?"

"Our incident was yesterday... after beating two of them up, Levy managed to calm me down... as those bastards left they said I would regret ever getting in their way. As soon as a woke up this morning, I headed of to Levy's place... I wanted to pick her up and accompany her to the guild... damnit... If I would just look for her sooner..." He clenched his fist, his eyes full of regret.

The guild members could not bear to see the usually emotionally reserved Iron Dragon Slayer in such pain. Mirarjane quickly came up with a plan and divided the city into multiply parts. The guild split up so they could search for Levy more efficiently. Natsu and Lucy formed up a team as usual. Juvia followed Gray who wasn't wondering about his recently established team formation anymore. Elfman took off with Lisanna. Cana left with Erza. Happy, Charle and Lily flew away very quick as well, since they were able to observe the city from above. The immediate help of his guild members raised a tiny gleam of hope in the Iron Slayer. He started to run in search for the little girl he was worried about so much it drove him insane.

* * *

Levy woke up at 8 a.m. as usual. She got ready, put her favorite beige dress and a rose-gold hairband on. While she prepared breakfast, she thought about her date with Gajeel last night. By adding milk to her chocolate flakes cereal she smiled absently. She was thinking about Gajeel's rage last night when these strange guys ran into them and tried to hit on her. She also felt protected, because he didn't like the way they talked to her. Those jerks really acted like they would have an easy job of her.

 _Well, I really don't have to think about these weirdos anymore,_ she thought; _besides that incident our walk last night was amazing... He listened, he cared about me even though he is not good at showing it...still I know it, I know that he cares about me._ The blue-haired smiled happily.

At this very moment the doorbell rang. She ran towards the front door in excitement, expecting to see Gajeel at the other side of the door. She opened it with a thrill of anticipation. However, there was not her tall, raven-haired Dragon Slayer standing in the front door, but one of the men from last night. He had a disgusting grin on his face. Levy was about to automatically shut the door, but the beefy man put his food in the door gap.

"Oh don't be so mean and lock me out right away little one… now, don't you remember me?," asked the man sarcastically.

"What do you want?" said Levy with a shaky voice, trying not to show the panic raising in her eyes.

"I just wanted to apologize for yesterday you know... we didn't mean to bother you two."

"Ehm thank you... I guess... now I really have to get ready, my... my boyfriend is about to come any minute you know... so...," said the girl, trying to close the door fairly casually.

"Oh I'm sure he will." Said the man with an evil blaze in his eyes.

From that point on Levy didn't remember much. She felt someone overbearing her, something heavy hitting her head; she heard laughter, noises in her apartment and eventually rough hands grasping and carrying her away. It was not comfortable; actually the grasp was so harsh it even hurt. She was carried a few times by Gajeel... his body is hard and his hands rough, but he always tried to be careful with her... _Gajeel._.. she passed out with pain.


	2. The Perfect Hiding Place

_I always said it is hard looking for someone so small, but now it is my fault that she isn't by my side... because me, being the idiot that I am, wasn't there to protect her_ , thought the Iron Slayer while running the streets up and down in search of the girl. _Seeing her apartment like that... what have they done to her... I will kill everyone who tries to lay a finger on her,_ he thought and ran faster trying to pick up her scent _._ Unfortunately, you can't find an address of a guild, which is not legally recognized - a dark guild. He remembered what Levy once said: "If someone founds a guild without the permission of the council, the guild is automatically not registered in the Guilds' Memorandum of Fiore." But she didn't really need to tell him that. Gajeel himself was a former member of a dark guild; he knew the rules, he just didn't care about them back then.

 _That's why I can't find the location of those bastards so easily… dammit._

* * *

When she regained consciousness, she realized that they were walking through a forest. _Of course, the forest is a perfect hiding place for a dark guild,_ Levy thought, _I'm wondering if anyone at Fairy Tail noticed my absence._ Levy was not the girl, who enjoyed capturing too much attention, but right now she was scared, so she hoped for anyone to notice her disappearance. _I said to Lu-chan that I would see her tomorrow for breakfast at the guild... I guess she noticed that I didn't show up._

"Soo may I welcome you to our five-star hotel a la woods," said the man who was dragging her the whole way while throwing her onto the hard ground. Levy wailed with pain. At the beginning of her abduction she tried to defend herself against the men, but since every attempt to escape or use her solid script magic ended with punches and kicks, she had no energy to try further. Also every resistance of hers was punished with an even tougher grip, so the pain became unbearable over time. Lying on the ground, Levy took a look at the rundown guild building in front of her. The building was marked with lilac letters that said MadMen. _What a great name for a guild... this sounds promising_ , thought the bluenette with a distorted facial expression.

At that moment another guild member came out of the building. He was a tall man with red hair and black, feisty eyes. First, he wanted to approach his teammates, but once he noticed the girl who was lying on the ground, he changed his direction. "What do we have here, where have you picked up this cute thing?" asked the man by lifting the girl up and observing her form head to toe.

"Ah it's a long story Akaya, let's just call it a lucky accident," answered the man who was at Levy's apartment this morning.

"Is someone locking for her?" asked Akaya with anticipation in his voice.

"I guess her boyfriend and maybe some other guild members."

"And her boyfriend is?"

"Gajeel Redfox. From Fairy Tail."

"Fairy Tail ha? Now that will be fun," said the man with a wide grin on his face.


	3. Go Wherever Your Heart Takes You

The small-framed girl was led into a rather dim but tall guildhall. The man who spotted her earlier considered it necessary to grab the bluenette by her arm, even though she wouldn't be able to escape anyway. Especially not with the anti-magic handcuffs which galled her skin painfully. It was obvious that the man took a fancy to her and just used the opportunity for his own pleasure. Other guild members turned around, observing the mage precisely. Some of them whistled at her, some nodded in approval; others just viewed her with a disgusting grin.

"Shall we bring her to the master?" asked one of the abductors.

"Can't we have some fun with her first?" answered Akaya while he stroked her face.

His touch embarrassed her making her feel ill at ease. The rough grasps and punches from before were nothing compared to the nasty expression in the man's eyes and the kinky touch of his fingers, which worked their way from her face over her breasts along her flat stomach. In fact, right now Levy would rather absorb any blow than being trapped in this room and groped by this man. Tears filled her eyes when he lifted up her dress with prying eyes. With a lump in her throat she whispered: "Please… don't."

The man looked at her with satisfaction. "Look at this," he said lecherously "the fairy girls have a damn good taste for underwear."

* * *

At this very moment Gajeel's heart missed a beat. An awful feeling curdled his stomach. He didn't know what it was, but it made his flesh crawl. The dragon slayer cried out in pain. A strong, aching urge for revenge made his body tremble. He didn't understand what was going on, but he suddenly picked up her scent. It was now clearer and stronger than any other scent around him. Her intimated scent smelled like fresh flowers on a blooming cherry blossom tree in spring. But there was more to it than that. His eyes widened in fear, since it was fear he sensed from her. His body felt a burning pain 'cause it was pain he perceived from her. And there was something else - he couldn't determine that strange feeling of unease… no it was not just uneasiness… her condition was worse than that… he felt something that was more intense than anxiety… it was a dreadful feeling of humiliation and - harassment that made his blood run cold. He started to run, led by one instinct - the instinct to demolish the reason for her suffering.

* * *

"I hope everything goes as planned," asked a harsh, low-pitched voice. The voice came from a man who was sitting on a chair in the shadows of a gloomy chamber.

"Yes, the plan worked out great so far," replied the master of the dark guild, "we are known for satisfying our clients, but I'm sure you did your research well before hiring the MadMen for such an important matter."

"This is true enough, Kenshin. And I hope _you_ did your research about your client. If so, you should know that if your life is somewhat precious to you, you'd better not let me down."

"You will not be disappointed, Master Porla," replied the man firmly.


	4. The Key To His Heart

The search of the other Fairy Tail members was to no avail.

Everyone came to the meeting place at the guild on stipulated time, everyone except Gajeel. They were all tired and frustrated, but also worried about their missing friend.

"Maybe Gajeel found her already," said Lucy in a hopeful way.

Mirajane and Juvia looked up with a glimpse of hope in their eyes.

"Even if so, how come he doesn't let us know first so we can beat those bastards up together. But no, he wants to have them all for himself," Natsu complained loudly.

"Oi flame-brain, if he really found Levy it means that he found the entire guild, too. Don't you worry about Gajeel dealing with those bastards all by himself?" Gray argued.

"Nah he's a Dragon Slayer. He can handle this," Natsu replied.

"Are you sure about that?" Lucy asked, worried about the well being of her best friend.

"Of course Luce, I believe in him – and I think you all should believe in him, too. He is a Fairy Tail wizard. He can handle this," said Natsu, while laying his arm around Lucy in a comforting way.

The Fairy Tail members nodded in approval. Something in Natsu's comforting words stirred up their hope… the hope that their friends will be fine, even though one could still see the concern in everyone's eyes. None of them would be able to sleep for another night. But it was late and everyone was exhausted. Natsu and Lucy were the first who left the guild for Lucy's place. Other guild members followed their example little by little and went home to get some sort of rest for the next day.

* * *

„Now would you like to see more of our little fairy?" Akaya asked the gazing crowd. The men whooped and whistled in a cheerful mood. Akaya pulled the beige dress of the Bluenette halfway down exposing her upper underwear to the guild. He was about to doff her lace pink bra when he heard a chesty voice.

"I see, my guild is having fun… good." His hands stopped groping the girl, leaving her pinned to the wall. He turned around to face his master.

"We were about to bring the girl to you, Master." Akaya said.

"Oh no, I don't blame you for having a little fun with such a cute little thing. Actually you did a pretty good job in carrying out my plans." answered the master.

"How so?" asked the man with both relief and confusion in his voice.

"The girl is a means to an end. Why do you think is that so?"

"Because we want to provoke Fairy Tail so we can destroy them?"

"No, that's not it. There is more to this than you think. We are doing this because we have a very important client," said the man speaking now to his entire guild.

"Our client is the Master of Phantom Lord – Jose Porla and he is missing one of his precious guild members. A traitor, who deserted to the enemy, Fairy Tail, after a little setback in a battle."

"What a filthy little dog," several voices in the crowd hissed.

"A little setback," said a weak voice out of the corner. The men turned around to look at the bluenette, who was still pinned to the wall, with astonishment.

"A _little_ setback," the girl repeated with a fragile but provocative grin in her face. "You should rather not insult him like that. Gajeel has more sense of honor that all of you together. He chose the right way in life."

Her pesterer interrupted her with a firm stroke into her stomach.

"The girl has spirit" the master laughed, "We still have time to change that. This –" he said pointing a finger at the little Levy "this is the girl of Kurogane Gajeel. This girl is the key to his heart," he said with a smirk.

"What's this lovey-dovey crap you're talking about? I never thought you were the romantic type, Master," Akaya said disgusted.

"Guard your tongue you moron. This girl is literarily the key to Kurogane's heart. He is a Dragon Slayer – he is imprinted on her – this girl is his mate."

"Mate? What does that mean he is imprinted on her?" asked another man.

"This means that Dragon Slayers only mate with the person they are imprinted on. They mate only once in a lifetime. They are not only attached to them physically but also emotionally. It's like a bond or something. So basically he feels her and her emotions. That's why I complimented you on your good work on her," he said while observing her damaged body with approval. "He is going to be outraged," he said contented.

"So he should notice by this time that she's in danger?" asked another man.

"Oh on that you can be sure. He is on his way. Prepare yourself for a battle you morons."

"Maybe I should make sure that he surely finds his way to us," said Akaya with a wanton look towards the girl.

The master guffawed, "I see, you took pleasure in her. Do whatever you want with her. We don't need her any longer."


	5. Your Weakness

Her scent was getting stronger. _Thank heavens, I've finally found you_ ; he sighted with relief until he smelled a pungent smell of men right beside her scent. The thought of his shrimp being surrounded by that nasty smell made him sick. He gained speed. He was almost there. Since the moment he picked up her scent, he was consistently on to it without rest breaks. And now he was finally close to her. He took a deep breath inhaling her odor as he spotted the seedy guild building. It was getting dark. He heard laughter inside of the building. He smelled the scent of guns just as well as he sensed the presence of dark magic. He observed his surroundings attentively until a cry interrupted his thoughts. That cry made his heart to skip a beat. Indeed, it felt like his heart shattered into a thousand pieces. The cry was followed by whimpers and sobs. At that moment he most certainly looked like madness itself with his head turning around slantingly to face the guild building, looking at it with his crimson eyes that were drowning in rage and pain. "Say your prayers," he growled while he approached the guild at a tearing pace.

* * *

She couldn't take it anymore, so she cried out. She tried to take all the humiliation during the last days with some kind of dignity. She tried so hard not to grant them her tears. They were not worth her tears. But when the man ripped off her dress entirely from her body she couldn't but cry out loud. Her reaction satisfied the crowd. It was a game to them, so they enjoyed playing with the victim. She felt their eyes all over her body. It was a disgusting feeling. She wanted to cover herself up or at least hold her hands in front of herself to feel some sort of protection, but since she was pinned to the wall she couldn't. She was exposed to the lecherous gaze of men who didn't care about her desperate pleadings. When she thought it couldn't get any worse than that, that one specific man who gave her a rough time right from the start, pressed his body against hers pushing her even more against the wall while grabbing right between her legs. That was too much for her to take. She tried to imagine herself being in a different place, but her physical pain didn't allow her to repress the situation any longer. She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth, letting out a muted whimper under the weight of the man.

"I'll take the fairy bitch first, then I'll leave her to you," Akaya said with a wide grin on his face. He stroke over his member while looking aroused at the girl in front of him. He approached her with the intention to position her small frame for his imminent pleasure. However as he reached out to grab her hips, he was punched with an iron arm in his face and smacked against the left wall before being able to touch her. Moments after other men who were standing around the venue were being knocked out one by one by the man with the iron body. Levy slowly opened her eyes. She looked around and found her pesterer lying on the ground with some other guild members next to him. Eventually her eyes met his sight. He observed her from head to toe. He saw his shrimp, pinned to a wall, exposed in her underwear, her petite body covered in bruises and blood stains, her messy curls falling in her face and her big hazel eyes looking tired and distraught into his crimson ones. The sight caused a stabbing pain in his chest. He rushed towards her, picking her up and placing her on the ground while covering her small body with his cloak. She looked at him gratefully trying to give him a weak smile but she couldn't fool him. She was in an awfully poor condition. He saw that she has been abused. She didn't have to say anything; her facial expression and the condition of her body, which he analyzed sharply, were enough for him.

"Hold on a little longer shrimp, I'll make it quick," groaned the Iron Slayer with pain, averting his gaze from her bruised body. She looked up at him worried about his failing voice. His eyes were filled with rage. She knew this look. This is the way he looked in fierce battles. But there was something new to his mien that made her gasp. His eyes were glassy, his crimson eyes even redder than usual. His face expression was tough and furious as always but also bitter and somehow anguished. The combination of rage and grief made him look delirious and frightening. Not to her, but certainly to his opponents who gradually began to realize their situation.

A group of men started a counterattack using battle magic, while others aimed their guns at him and fired. Their magical abilities were clearly not bad; some of his opponents were skilled but that was immaterial. The Iron Slayer was furious. The thought of some nasty hands touching his girl drove him insane and he vented his frustration on the men who were responsible for her pain. It was the least he could do. Since he was not able to take away her pain, he was determined to make them suffer even more than her. He smirked when the bastard who molested Levy earlier stood up again. That gave him the opportunity to knock him down once more. The fight between Akaya and him was over soon, since Gajeel was not able to hold back, especially not on this guy. "You son of a bitch," hissed the Iron Slayer before beating the shit out of Levy's cause of pain, "I'll make you regret ever putting your filthy hands on my girl."

* * *

His guild members were lying on the ground when the master entered the room. Every single one of them was in a seriously bad condition. That was not what he expected to see when he came in. His eyes widened in shock but he quickly tried to pull himself together. "Kurogane Gajeel – I," he said being interrupted with the firm stroke into his stomach. "I don't care," said the Iron Slayer hauling off for his next blow. The dark magic of the master was on a completely different level. He parried of the second attack not without effort but still pretty easily. "Kurogane Gajeel," he repeated "it is my mission to bring you back to your master." "I'm not gonna play along. We don't need to have that talk where you say somethin', when I say somethin'," said the Iron Slayer while dodging the attack of black shadows. One of the shadows stroked his leg. It was an acid form of dark magic that caused a burning pain and worked itself through the fabric of his pants into his flesh. "Ops, my bad," said the man with a smirk "but you roughed up my guild pretty badly." "By hurting this girl, you signed up your own death warrant. Her tears mean war to me," Gajeel yelled hitting the man with his extended iron arm. "Interesting, I never saw what it is like for a Dragon Slayer to have a mate. Now I see it in your eyes, very interesting. What is going to happen when I do this," he said pointing his next shadow attack at the vulnerable girl, who was lying on the ground curled up in a black cape. "Levy," yelled the Iron Slayer throwing himself in front of her, protecting her from the stroke with his own body. It was a highly concentrated stroke of magic this time that forced him to his knees. Levy who heard her name gradually regained consciousness and turned around looking out for Gajeel who was on his knees a few feet away from her. "It's okay," he gasped out avoiding eye contact with her big, beautiful, worried eyes. "Gajeel," she whispered, observing the Dragon Slayer, then the battlefield and the magical energy of his opponent sharply. She braced her last energy to use her Solid Script Magic. The word 'IRON' popped up in front of the Dragon Slayer. He looked at the girl who was losing consciousness again, due to the lack of energy. "Thank you, Levy," he muttered and picked up the iron. He took a final look at the bluenette who was lying on the ground again, breathing irregularly, her small body injured, her pretty face covered with dirt and tears drying up at her checks. _She cried too much these days_. He turned around to face his enemy who was observing their actions with curiosity. "Look, I don't care about you, I don't care about your mission and I don't care about your guild. But you touched my girl. She is the only thing I've ever cared about in my life. She is the light in my darkness. And you tried to take that light away from me. This is unforgivable. You wanted to know what it's like having a mate as a Dragon Slayer? I'll show you what it's like protecting his mate as a Dragon Slayer."

Did the enemy say something in reply? He doesn't know. From that moment on he doesn't remember much, there were only extracts of actions left in his mind. He knew that he followed his instincts, although his instincts were never that dominant before. He felt like a predator. His whole body was covered in iron scales, which were so solid – he was demolition itself. He remembered regaining consciousness after a few minutes or was it longer? He doesn't know for sure. He looked around to see the enemy lying on the ground. The man was panting heavily. Did he use Dragon Force or were this the beastly instincts he developed out of the urge to protect he mate? He turned around to see the bluenette. He didn't care about anything else anymore. The battle was over, she was save, and nothing else mattered. He picked her up bridal style. "I'm sorry shrimp, it took longer than expected," he whispered in her ear while walking out of the guild.

"She is your weakness," he heard the master groan on his way out, "when a man truly loves a woman she becomes his weakness. When a woman truly loves a man he becomes her strength. This is called Exchange of Power." "Ya really think I could be her strength?" asked the Dragon Slayer with a contented grin on his face.


	6. The Cave

He was squeezing her gently against his chest as he carried her through the forest. It was late, but he decided not to rest until they had some safe distance between them and the cursed guild. And there he was again thinking about the guild. But before he was able to drown in his thoughts of pain and darkness once again, he noticed that the bluenette in his arms was waking up slowly. Something was bothering her in her dream, since she knitted her brows and contorted her face. Then she suddenly opened up her eyes, trying jumpily to sit up which was quite an awkward act since she was still in his arms and screamed his name.

"GAJEEEL," she screamed with horror.

"Shrimp what's wrong?" the Dragon Slayer asked with a troubled voice.

She blinked several times and then looked at him totally confused. "You were hurt, the man, the master, he was there and you were on the ground and…" she mumbled quickly, trying to organize her thoughts.

"Everything's okay. Ya don't have to worry about that," the Dragon Slayer said. "At least there was somethin' I was able to protect you from," he breathed.

"Thank you so much Gajeel!" the girl said looking at him gratefully with her big hazel eyes.

"Please…shrimp… don't look at me at that…like I'm a hero or somethin'… I let them hurt you… I'm good-for-nothin'," he said anguished.

"Gajeel," she looked at him with disbelief. "You saved me! You saved my life back there! And now you are telling me that I should not thank you for that?! You say it's not good enough?! Without you being there at that moment, I would have been r..." She cringed at that memory.

He groaned when he realized what she was about to say. His body stiffened at that thought.

"Don't ya understand? I let them…touch you… I was not able to protect you from some perverted fuckers… I was too late."

"Gajeel, really I'm fine."

"Don't lie to me Levy," he growled in pain, "I saw your body, it's all bruised and hurt… I could see every single contusion on you. You were exposed to those bastards god dammit I saw everything," he choked the last words. The thought of her being humiliated like that, that picture in his head and those men with their disgusting intentions drove him insane. It took him all of his self-control not to go back to the guild and beat them up all over again. The petite girl in his arms was the only reason why he was not on his back already.

"Why are you limping? Is your leg hurt?" Levy asked breaking the silence between them.

"Ha? Oh that's, that's nothin', seems like I'd taken a blow or somethin'." That was more than slightly understated and she knew that.

"Maybe we should take a break?" she asked worried about the condition of the Dragon Slayer.

"Why? Are you tired?"

 _Tired from what? From being carried all the way? Not really, but you surely are,_ she thought knowing that he would never admit that he was exhausted. "Yes," she simply answered.

"Okay, then we'll rest," he said immediately, looking out for a place to do so.

 _Thank goodness_ , she sighed thinking about his injuries.

He spotted a cave, which was located under some moss-covered rocks. The cave was small but dry. He set her down on the ground and went outside searching for some wood to make a fire. After a while he came back with sticks and a handful of berries he picked up for her. She smiled at him thankfully. After making a fire he finally sat down next to her.

"Let me please take a look at your leg," she said determined. He blushed and turned his injured leg towards the girl. He knew that she would not give up until he'd shown her what she wanted, so he didn't even try to bluff it out.

The wound looked horrible. It was a corrosive injury. The acid-like magical stroke burned the skin on his leg and then covered the damage with multiple blisters. _That was not a pretty sight_ , he thought, but the girl didn't seem to care. She was already thinking of possible ways to heal or at least treat the wound.

"Wait here," she said, standing up almost forgetting to hold on to the cloak that covered her body.

"Oi shrimp, forget it you ain't going out there without me."

"Gajeel relax, I saw some medical herbs just next to our cave," she said walking out in a hurry. He was listening to every footstep of hers carefully. A few minutes later she came back with some herbs in her hands. She put them down next to him and started to rip longish stripes from the bottom of her cloak. Then she treated his wound by disinfecting it with a purple herb. After doing so she put a green one on his wound and bandaged that with the piece of fabric. Then she looked at him skeptically.

"Where else," she asked with a serious look on her face that he could never take seriously because she looked too cute with that stern face expression of hers. He just chuckled. "Solid Script Light," she said pretty amused about his following reaction. He groaned unhappy about his situation, although he knew that deep inside he was glad about the attention she gave him. She carefully examined his face with the 'light' word in her hand. She continued with his neck when she saw a similar injury on his right shoulder. She treated it the same way she did the leg injury. After being done with his shoulder she said in a commanding tone, "You have to take off your shirt." Before he could even contradict she added, "And don't say that you're fine Gajeel. I know that if you're hurt, you will not tell me that. So I have to check for myself."

He removed his shirt, complaining quietly.

His back was fine but she found the next major wound on the left side of his stomach. She started to clean it even more careful than before. As she disinfected the sensitive spot, she heard him hiss the word "pervert" with a distorted grin in his face. "Baka," she mumbled, concentrated on his treatment.

"Done," she exclaimed happily.

"Thank you, shrimp," he said with a genuine smile on his face.

"Now, why wouldn't ya lay down and sleep for a bit?" he asked her kindly.

"What about you?" she asked.

"I ain't gonna sleep tonight. I'm takin' care of the night watch."

"Oh, okay then let's take turns. Wake me up in four hours."

"No way, shrimp," he said laughing. "I'm going to watch out for you tonight."

"Well, if we don't take turns, I'm not going to sleep tonight either, " she said yawning, leaning her head against his shoulder and falling asleep gradually.

"Gihi, it's okay shrimp, I'm going to look after you," he said looking at the bluenette sleeping on his shoulder.


	7. The Howl Of A Dragon Slayer

Staying awake was his first priority that night. His body was aching in exhaustion; his mind was tired from being tortured by his own thoughts, not to think of the pictures in his head. He tried hard not give in to sleep until a restless slumber slept upon him. Blurred pictures crossed his mind along with loud voices, rowdy laughter and faint calls that all combined into an irritating noise in his head. The faint calls turned into alarmed screams which were getting louder and louder. His eyelids fluttered and he opened his eyes, his blurry visions getting sharp since his eyes easily adjusted to the darkness. As he regained consciousness, he realized that something was moving on his lap. It was a blue, messy ball that was tossing a turning back and forth on top of his legs. She groaned as she turned around one more time. Something was wrong. _Did she call me in her sleep? Does she have a nightmare just like me?,_ he thought wondering about the restless sleep of the bluenette. She groaned one more time, now it clearly sounded like she groaned with pain, turning her face in his direction. He patted her head with his large hand in hopes of calming her down a little bit. She relaxed for a moment, until she was caught up in her nightmare once again. Her facial expression changed drastically as he watched her narrowly. She began to mumble something in her sleep. _No… no… please don't,_ she muttered, slightly contorting her face. _Don't… let me go_ , her voice slightly panicking. His mind already produced vivid pictures in his head as he ran his fingers though her blue hair trying to soothe her. _Don't touch me there…it hurts… stop… don't,_ she cried out hysterically. His fingers stopped just as his breathing. There was this stabbing pain in the chest again. He sat there, holding his hand stiff on top of her head, his fingers tangled in her curly hair, trying to breathe. It was as if he was paralyzed from shock. He felt helpless and that was definitely new to him. He could immediately tell that he didn't like that feeling.

The girl was getting more and more anxious in her far to realistic nightmare. _Please don't touch me there… mph… no air_ , she whimpered and raised her arms protectively over her chest, her lips trembling. The Dragon Slayer growled dangerously, still unable to move. Frozen in shock he watched her relive her trauma of the last days.

 _Gajeel_ , she muttered, _help… Gajeel… GAJEEL!_ Her crying out his name swapped him out of his paralyzed state. _GAJEEL_ , she cried out once more as she breathed fitfully curling herself up in a ball. The way she hugged herself in this fetal position looked like a fragile way of self-defense.

"I'm here Levy," he said with a husky voice taking the little, broken, blue ball in his muscular arms. "Sssh I'm right here." He stroked a tear away from her cheek, rocking her smoothly.

"Gajeel?" the bluenette whispered. "Where am I?"

"Safe," he said squeezing her firmer to his chest.

The girl took a deep breath, inhaling his scent, the fear of her previous nightmare fading away, as if his strong arms would shield her from everything and anything that tried to harm her. She sighted in relief, noticing that her heartbeat was slowly calming down.

They sat it silence for a while. He held her tiny body in his arms as her head rested on his shoulder. His fingers gently stroked her back. He cleared his throat before he spoke.

"Are you okay?"

"Mh," she nodded approving.

"Look at me," he ordered, as he observed her sharply. Her breathing was regular again, her face was not as pale as before and she even smiled at him with her usual, grateful smile. But it was her eyes that revealed the truth. There was no lie in those big, brown eyes. And they looked hurt. He noticed it right away. He knew that she tried to hide it like she always did. She would cover her tears with a smile and fall apart by herself when she would be alone or at least think she would be. That was her odd way of protecting him and he hated it.

"Levy," he said in a coarse voice, "Would you like to talk about it?"

"It was just a stupid nightmare Gajeel," she said with a pretend laugh, avoiding his eyes. She couldn't fool him; he studied her well to know better.

"How far did they go?" his voice was stricken with pain.

She looked at him with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry Lev', I have to know what happened to you and if you're… hurt. somewhere. else," he said with a broken voice.

He was sure that she hasn't been raped, since he would've sense it right away, however that was all he knew. She tried hard to pull herself together before she started talking.

"At the morning where we wanted to visit the Ancient Library of Magnolia together a few men from the park appeared at my apartment. I told them to leave and that you were about to come to my place but that did not intimidate them… it was more like they appreciated it. Everything went so fast…one of the men knocked me down and I was dragged to the guild," the girl explained while she touched her head, feeling the bruise on her skull absent-minded. He clenched his fists, but tried to calm himself down in order that she continued talking.

"When they arrived at the guild… there was one man who seemed to… _like_ me… somehow." The Dragon Slayer growled. "He said he wanted to have some fun with me," her voice was shaking as she searched for his eyes. They looked bitter.

"He undressed me in front of the guild and groped me," she whispered, her voice failing her.

There was silence between them. He looked with a frosty stare on the wall in front of him. He felt her piercing look on his face. He felt numb. Finally he was able to ask: "Are you hurt?" his voices sounded stiff, but his eyes that met hers looked gentle and genuinely worried.

"I was not being raped, Gajeel. You came the exact moment he…"

"I know," he interrupted her; he didn't wanted to hear what she was about to say. He didn't want _her_ to even say things like that. "Are you hurt?" he repeated his question once again.

"It hurts a little bit," she admitted.

His questioning look met hers. He actually couldn't tell that she felt pain. He always knew she was tough girl, even if she may doesn't look like it, but she hid her pain for his sake way too good.

"My… breasts are sore… and… you know… the neither region aches pretty badly… I… I was just never touched there before so…" The Dragon Slayer growled in pain. His voice was low and dangerous, but also kind of harassed and moanful, it made her shiver. That whimper of pain reminded her of an injured predator. _That's how a dragon in pain sounds like,_ the girl thought. It sounded frightening and heartbreaking at the same time.

„Gajeel," she whispered, reaching out her hand to stroke his cheek. Something wet touched her fingertips. She tenderly brushed his tears away and he buried his face into her curly hair, trying hard to choke back tears and the outburst of rage at the same time.

"I'm sorry Levy!" he muttered into her hair. "I'm so fucking sorry that I couldn't protect you from that. You were suffering all by yourself and I couldn't be there for you," his voice getting louder. "Why couldn't I pick up your scent earlier, why?" he screamed punching his fist on the ground.

"Gajeel please stop!" the girl cried out searching for eye contact with the Dragon Slayer, already regretting telling him the whole story.

"And stop blaming yourself this instant! It's my fault that I wasn't able to protect myself against some enemies, that's the risk of being in a guild. I was aware of that! Why do you even bother that much? I know we are friends and Fairy Tail is family, but you…why Gajeel why?"

"Because I vowed to myself that I'll always protect ya from everything shrimp," he roared.

"Why?" first she looked at him aghast, then angry. "Don't tell me it's due to our past because you don't have to make up for…"

"It's because I can't stand seeing you hurt god dammit'," he yelled.

It took a while for her to let the confession sink in.

"Oh," she gulped.

"Yeah," he exhaled.

"But why?" she asked hesitant, looking him straight in the eyes.

A few minutes later he answered: "Because of your tiny little fists," he chuckled.

"What?" she asked unbelieving.

He smirked at her and said: "Look, ya know I'm not good at saying' stuff...I'm just asking for the right to protect ya, that's all."

"Mh okay…thanks," she mumbled blushing.

"Gihi," he smirked wider while positioning her comfier in his arms.


End file.
